8 Football Party Games for Kids

These football party games for kids are a cinch to organize and just what you need to help them celebrate the game in a way that is exciting to them. You may even find the adults joining in to pass the time between quarters!

Halftime Bingo

Kids can play bingo to pass the time and win prizes during the Super Bowl halftime show. Print out bingo sheets that have the same number of boxes as regular bingo. Replace the word “bingo” with the word “super.” Instead of an “X” in the center space, you can put clipart of a goalpost, football helmet, or something related to the game. Leave the rest of the boxes blank.During the first half of the game, pass out the sheets and have players write in the boxes some of the things they expect to see during halftime, such as announcers, a musical performance, a marching band, a beer commercial, cheerleaders, or celebrities in the audience. As the things they've written appear, kids mark off the boxes in which they've written them. When a player gets five boxes in a row, they call out the word “super!” and win a prize.

Put on a Halftime Show

Instead of watching the halftime show, let the kids put on one of their own. Provide them with a variety of props, costume accessories, and time during the first half of the game to put together and rehearse their skits. Ideas for entertainment include dressing up as sportscasters and players and interviewing each other, dressing up as cheerleaders and performing cheers or dressing like rock stars and lip-syncing or performing a karaoke song.

Pass the Helmet

Fill a helmet with a variety of trinket prizes, such as football stickers, NFL pencils, miniature helmets, and football trading cards. Have kids sit in a circle and pass the helmet as music plays. Have the person playing the music stop it at random intervals. When the music stops, the person holding the helmet removes a prize. When the music starts up again, the kids continue to pass the helmet. Play continues until the helmet is empty.Another variation on this game is to have each kid collect $1 from their parents. The dollars are all placed in the helmet before it's passed around. When the music stops, the kid holding it gets to keep one of the dollars.

Referee Balloon Pop

For this game, you will need two sets of balloons, one black and one white, to represent the colors of the referee uniforms. Before inflating the balloons, fill them with small pieces of paper on which you have written “penalties” or “scores.” For instance, a penalty paper might read: “Personal foul; refill all of the snack bowls” or “Penalty; clean up all of the popped balloons.” A score paper might say: “Field Goal; you win an extra dessert” or “Touchdown; pick a prize from the prize box.”Fill a large garbage bag with the balloons. At random intervals throughout the party, blow a referee whistle and dump the balloons into the room. Kids must choose a balloon, pop it and remove the note to reveal whether they win a score or have to perform their penalty.

Football Fanatic Contest

Hold a contest to see which kid is the biggest super fan of the Super Bowl. Kids can come to the party dressed in their team colors, or you can supply them with plain, white shirts and fabric markers to design their football jerseys. Give them poster board and markers to make their football signs like the fans in the stands. You can even have them paint their faces like the superfans do. Have them parade around with their signs in front of a few adults you’ve assigned as the judges. You can award a prize for the biggest super fan, or give out honors in several categories, such as the funniest sign, best jersey, or most creative use of face paint.

Punter 500

This backyard game is a fun way to get kids out for some fresh air (and to work off some of that football cake) during halftime. Line up all of the players behind a designated receiving line. Choose one player to be the kicker. The kicker will head to a punting line several feet away from the receiving line (the distance can be determined according to the age of the players). As he kicks the football, the punter calls out an even number, from 10 to 300. The receiving players attempt to catch the ball. The player who catches it scores the number of points that were called out by the kicker. Play continues until one player reaches 500. That player then becomes the kicker.

Football Fun Dance

In this game, kids dance freely as music plays. The person playing the music randomly stops it and calls out a football move, such as punt, huddle, or pass like a quarterback. The kids must then stop dancing and mimic the football move that was called out when the music stopped. Any player who fails to do so is eliminated. The music starts again, and the cycle is repeated until only one player remains.Another option is to forget about the elimination process and simply play just for fun for a designated amount of time, such as during commercial breaks.